Singapore shares close higher on Friday, but are lower for the week

THE local stock market has always been driven more by external rather than internal factors and this week was no different.

US earnings concerns played a part in the weakness that saw the Straits Times Index (STI) drop 60 points or 2.1 per cent over the week to 2,815.24, while also relevant was the release of the minutes of the September US Federal Open Market Committee meeting which suggested the Fed is leaning heavily towards a December interest-rate hike.

On Friday, the STI managed its first positive showing of the week when it rose 9.76 points. Turnover was 2.14 billion units worth S$1.14 billion, a far cry from the S$631 million done on Monday.

With blue chips weak, traders made do with punting the second line, most notably low-priced issues such as Noble Group, Ezra Holdings, Ezion Holdings, Spackman Entertainment Group and Addvalue Technologies. Some of these plays were accompanied by research reports or company announcements, others were purely speculative.